enter anthropos, the woman

Have I sat by and watched the dehumanization of woman? I don't know, but so long and no more.

Anthropos is a Greek noun of common gender, a human creature, woman or man. That those who are male wish to alienate women from being classified as human, should come as no surprise to me. It is easier to dismiss the one who is less human. It is easier to excuse her absence, her presence elsewhere, so man can the paradigmatic human, the paradigmatic christian, the paradigmatic blogger, the paradigmatic reader of this blog.

(You know I mean the opposite of this - that the ideal reader of this blog is human - a woman. But a man, if he deems himself human also, may read this blog.)

Here is a story of six women. You tell me now if woman is "human."

Woman #1

There was in the Paeanian deme, a woman called Phya, three fingers short of six feet, four inches in height, and otherwise, too, well-formed. This woman they equipped in full armor and put in a chariot, giving her all the paraphernalia to make the most impressive spectacle, and so drove into the city; heralds ran before them, and when they came into town proclaimed as they were instructed:


“Athenians, give a hearty welcome to Pisistratus, whom Athena herself honors above all men and is bringing back to her own acropolis.”

So the heralds went about proclaiming this; and immediately the report spread in the demes that Athena was bringing Pisistratus back, and the townsfolk, believing that the woman was the goddess herself, worshipped this human creature(anthropos) and welcomed Pisistratus.

Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley) 1:60

Woman #2

Cratinus once had a dispute over a farm with the brother-in-law of Callimachus. A personal encounter ensued. Having concealed a female slave,(anthropos) they accused Cratinus of having crushed her head, and asserting that she had died as a result of the wound, they brought suit against him in the court of the Palladium on the charge of murder.

Isocrates, Speeches and Letters


Woman #3

Philoneos' mistress accompanied him to attend the sacrifice. On reaching Peiraeus, Philoneos of course carried out the ceremony. When the sacrifice was over, the woman (anthropos) considered how to administer the draught: should she give it before or after supper? Upon reflection, she decided that it would be better to give it afterwards, thereby carrying out the suggestion of this Clytemnestra here.


Antiphon, Speeches (ed. K. J. Maidment), Prosecution Of The Stepmother For Poisoning

Woman #4

While she was still living in the tenement-house, she had relations with a freedman whose name was Dion, whom she declared to be the father of these young men; and Dion did, in fact, bring them up as his own children.

Some time later Dion, having committed a misdemeanor and being afraid of the consequences, withdrew to Sicyon. The woman (anthropos) Alce was then installed by Euctemon to look after his tenement-house in the Cerameicus, near the postern gate, where wine is sold.

Isaeus, Speeches, On the Estate of Philoctemon

Woman #5

They said such things among themselves; and Pelias arrived, rushing headlong with his mule team and his polished chariot. He was instantly astonished, looking at the single sandal, plain to see on the stranger's right foot. But he hid his fear in his heart and said:


“What country, stranger, do you claim as your fatherland? And what woman, (anthropos) of mortals on earth, bore you from her aged womb? Do not befoul your story with most hateful lies, but tell me of your birth.”

Pindar, Odes, Pythian Odes

Woman #6

At first, I believe, they only tried to make her drink quietly and eat dessert; so Iatrocles told me the following day. But as the carouse went on, and they became heated, they ordered her to sit down and give them a song. The poor girl (anthropos) was bewildered, for she did not wish, and she did not know how, to sing.

Then Aeschines and Phryno declared that it was intolerable impertinence for a captive,--and one of those ungodly, pernicious Olynthians too,--to give herself such airs.


“Call a servant,” they cried; “bring a whip, somebody.”

In came a flunkey with a horsewhip, and--I suppose they were tipsy, and it did not take much to irritate them,when she said something and began to cry, he tore off her dress and gave her a number of lashes on the back.

Demosthenes, Speeches 11-20, On the Embassy

ἡ ἄνθρωπος:

A human creature,
statuesque and goddess-like,
mistress and murderer

She is the body-broken slave,
a captive to be whipped
because she cannot sing.

She loves,
has sex
and expels the child
from her womb.

But some men
still deny
woman
the name
"human."

Bibliography

Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University

Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.

Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.

Isaeus. Isaeus with an English translation by Edward Seymour Forster, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1962.

Isocrates. Isocrates with an English Translation in three volumes, by George Norlin, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1980.

Pindar. Odes. 1990.